Reading Instruction in English and in Modern
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READING INSTRUCTION IN ENGLISH AND IN MODERN FOREIGN LANGUAGES: A COMPARATIVE STUDY DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Alfred Newton Smith{ B,A. ******* The Ohio State University 1968 Approved by Adviser College of Education ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I will be forever indebted to Dr. Edward D. Allen, my adviser, who made possible my years of graduate study at The Ohio State University and the completion of this dissertation and the Ph.D. degree. Throughout my graduate program, his example has been an inspiration and a constant source of encouragement. His unfailing support and confidence have always been positive, propelling inducements to move forward with optimism. His friendship and personal concern have made these profitable years all the more rewarding. I would like to thank Professor Melba Woodruff for making available to me material from her first level foreign language text Premier Echelon which is to be published in 1969- I am particularly grateful to Miss Leona Glenn and Miss Carol O'Connell, both NDEA Title III consultants for the state of Ohio. Miss Glenn, the state foreign language consultant, read and reacted favorably to my initial proposal. Her encouragement contributed greatly to the initial enthusiasm and momentum that proved so necessary for the completion of this task. It was also through Miss Glenn's cooperation that I was able to otbain so easily the foreign language materials discussed in this dissertation. Miss O'Connell, the state reading consultant, provided a number of invaluable sources on the teaching of reading in English. Her favorable comments on the organization and treatment of Chapter II gave me the confidence I needed to continue my work in an area with which I was not too familiar. The most notable contribution to this endeavor has been made by my wife, Sandra Smith. The energy that she has exerted to provide favorable working conditions for me in a house with three young, active children is immeasurable. The sensitivity and intelligence which she brought to bear upon the whole experience enabled us both to maintain always a positive, realistic perspective. iii VITA March 10, 1937 Born - Evansville, Indiana 1959 ......... B.A., University of Denver, Denver, Colorado 1959-1964 . Teacher, Denver Public Schools, Denver, Colorado . .— 1963-Summer . Instructor, Utah State University Peace Corps Training Program, Logan, Utah_ 1964-Summer . Methods Instructor, Utah State University, NDEA Institute, Logan, Utah 1964-1968 . NDEA Title III Fellow, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 1 9 6 5 ......... Assistant Instructor, The Ohio State University School, Columbus, Ohio 1966-Summer . Methods Instructor, The Ohio State University, NDEA Institute, Lyon, France 1966-I967 . Instructor, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 1967-Summer . Linguistics Instructor, Akron State University, NDEA Institute, Akron, Ohio FIELDS OF STUDY Major Field: Foreign Language Education. Professors Edward D. Allen and Paul Pimsleur Minor Fields: Secondary Education. Professors Jack Frymier, Kenneth J. Arisman, Kelly Duncan, and Everett J. Kircher French Literature. Professors Hugh M. Davidson, Pierre A. G. Astier, and Charles E. Carlut Linguistics. Professors Charles J. Fillmore and Terrence Langendoen TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ii VITA iv LIST O F TABLES vii Chapter I. INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND 1 The Foreign Language Program Today History of Reading in Terms o f Foreign Language Aims and Methods Research Statement of the Problem Importance of the Problem Definition of Terms Limitations of the Study Description of Remaining Chapters II. READING INSTRUCTION IN ENGLISH: A REVIEW OF METHODS, RESEARCH, AND SPECIFIC CLASSROOM TECHNIQUES 37 A General View of the Field The Most Important Subject in the Curriculum The Principles of Reading: What It Is and What It Is Not The General Endorsement of an Eclectic Method Reading Readiness A Description of Methods and Review of Research Breaking the Code Reading for Meaning Oral and Silent Reading v III. READING INSTRUCTION IN FOREIGN LANGUAGES: A REVIEW OF METHODS AND CLASSROOM TECHNIQUES ............................... 80 Variables in the Foreign Language Reading Process Command of the Spoken Language The Nature of the Writing System The Fit Between Sound and Symbol Past Conditioning to the Graphic Configurations of the Writing System A Description of Methods Breaking the Code Reading for Meaning IV. METHODOLOGICAL IMPLICATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FOREIGN LANGUAGE READING INSTRUCTION .... 127 Differences Between First and Second Language Reading Reading Readiness Recommendations for the Prereading Stage A Comparison of Methods and Resulting Recommendations Breaking the Code Reading for Meaning Oral and Silent Reading A Summary of Recommendations Conclusion APPENDIX A . ..............................................165 APPENDIX B ..................................................... 209 APPENDIX C .......... 232 BIBLIOGRAPHY ................................................ 300 vi *SK. LIST OF TABLES Table Page Recommendations of the Major Text Books Concerning the Audio-Lingual Time La g ............. 85 Analysis of the Content in the Prereading Lessons of Three French Texts ..................... 131 vii CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND The Foreign Language Program Today During the past decade there has been a significant remodeling of the foreign language instructional program within the school curriculum. These instructional changes, which have been generously supported by the National Defense Education Actj have resulted in increased enrollments, new instructional materials and teaching techniques, extensive use of electronic laboratories and visual aids, and longer sequences and additional language offerings. Such revisions are impressive and are likely to be acclaimed as dramatic advances, particularly since progress and improvement are so often equated with mere change. However, no revolution comes to pass without producing some ill side effects. The urgent need for new materials brought about the rapid appearance of many textbook packages often incomplete and poorly organized. Laboratories were installed without instruction on their proper use and provision for their regular maintenance. FLES programs were established and longer sequences were offered with little attention to 1 2 articulation from level to level. At NDEA summer institutes teachers were trained in the first six weeks of audio-lingual instructional techniques emphasizing the speaking and listening skills, and little attention was paid to the teaching of reading, writing, and advanced levels. Some of these problems have been treated, but a number of them continue to remain unattended. The problems of reading instruction have not gone unnoticed. The late George Scherer in his development of the concept of "programmed reading" has done much to foster the production of suitable reading materials. His efforts were primarily concerned with the techniques of grading the vocabulary and structure of the reading text based on previously learned audio-lingual material to insure the process of direct reading in the foreign language. Controlling the reading material is important, but such programming does not solve all of the instructional problems that still persist in the teaching of the reading skill. In an address entitled "Counter-Revolution in Foreign Language Teaching" given to the Foreign Language Association of Northern California, Elton Hocking (1966) made the point that ". .we very much need a revolution in the teaching of reading, and generally in the intermediate and advanced courses, whether in school or college." (p. 11 ) History of Reading in Terms of Foreign Language Aims and Methods 1869-1927 Proficiency in the skill of reading has always been a highly regarded objective in the foreign language classroom. Twenty-two of the 126 entries under the section "Aims and Methods" in An'Annotated Bibliography of Modern Language Methodology by Buchanan and MacPhee (1928) recommended reading as the primary aim in the foreign language course. As early as 1869 Marcel in his Art of Thinking in a Foreign Language declared that "the ultimate aim is to give the student command of the language whether spoken or written, through reading, without the medium of translation or grammar .... The order to be followed in the study of a foreign language is, therefore: reading, hearing, speaking, and writing." (Buchanan, pp. 2k?-2k8) In his book reviewing aims of modern language teaching which first appealed in 1887, Colbeck "asserted the prior significance of the ability to read. A child can learn to speak a foreign language as easily late as early." (Buchanan, p. 93) In Methods of Teaching Modern Languages, a collection of essays written at different dates between 1887 to 191^» most of the writers insisted that "the primary aim in all foreign language teaching is the development of the ability to read the language. No one of the writers believes that any pupil really requires a control over the oral language through classroom teaching, no matter what method is employed." (Buchanan, p. 97) Sigwalt endorsed the reading aim in his methods book in 1906 mainly for practical reasons: "Everyone has a thousand occasions to read, a hundred occasions to write, and one occasion to speak a foreign language. It is much more useful to know how to read foreign languages than to speak them." (Buchanan,